JKUAT first to be honoured with the African Leadership Education Excellence Award

JKUAT first to be honoured with the African Leadership Education Excellence Award. Photo: Courtesy.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology has become the first University in the region to be honoured with the African Leadership Education Excellence Award by the African Leadership (UK) Limited, the publishers of the African Leadership Magazine.

According to communication sent to the University’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Victoria Wambui Ngumi by the board and management dated, March 11, 2019, JKUAT was meritoriously selected and endorsed by the International Board of Advisors to be honoured with the African Education Excellence Award (Research and Technology Development category), during the 4^th Edition of the African Education Summit (AES) to be held on May 3, 2019 in Washington DC.

“This award is in recognition of your University’s commitment and contribution to research and technology development in Kenya, thereby strengthening awareness about research and professional activity, leading to the acquisition, creation and dissemination of new knowledge and preparation of outstanding scholars which is worthy of note that JKUAT Students Top the 2019 Oracle Student Hackathon. This has led to professionalism in developing positive attitudes towards research development, which is very commendable,” read the communication from the International Board of Advisors.

The African Education Summit (AES) – Washington DC 2019 is an annual gathering of leaders and stakeholders in the education sector. This year’s summit themed: “Engaging Partnerships and Collaborations for Development in Higher Education”  aims at engaging policymakers, education leaders in the private and public  sectors, international development  institutions, think-tanks and stakeholders drawn from the United States of America and Africa in a series of high level  sessions with the aim of fostering formidable and high net-worth collaborations, mutually – beneficial and effective multi-stakeholder partnerships, policy dialogues and interactions as well as bespoke and private investment meetings, to strengthen  and develop the educational system in Africa.

Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology have continued to excel in research and technology development activities, a fete that has won them remarkable awards globally. 

Besides the 2019 Oracle Students Hackathon Award that has resulted in the award being conferred to JKUAT, other students have continued to raise the University’s status.  Only recently, a Kenyan team of six comprising of three students from JKUAT emerged second in the Huawei’s Sub-Saharan Africa ICT competition, trumping competitors from a host of top-notch universities from across 11 African countries.

Early March this year, Gilbert Nakiboli, a final year student of Electrical & Electronic Engineering student was crowned winner for his mobile application design dubbed, SafariWiz, bagging the Start-up for Better Energy award under the Total Startupper of the Year 2019 Challenge, organized by oil multinational, Total. The application promotes road safety in Kenya.

In November last year, two students – Emmanuel Kinyanjui and Collins Aketche won in two different categories of a regional student design competition – Autodesk DesignNext Africa 2018 after beating finalists from twelve (12) universities representing five (5) African countries.

In the same month, three more students, Evans Kiprotich, Zipporah Wachira and George Oyoo Onyango clinched top honours in the Intervarsity Huawei ICT Competition 2018-2019, beating over four thousand participants from 40 universities in Kenya.